We Nearly Died
by toLAZYtosignin
Summary: There's only so many thoughts that come to mind when a top heavy, muscular, glaring man is marching towards them, and their folly of a choice suddenly comes to light…. Run. (Two authors) (fix it fic? Kinda?)
1. Prologue

Warnings/Notes:

Canon typical violence and some not so typical violence

Two authors/character inserts

Torture/injuries

Hurt/comfort

Au? Sort of?

This is a collaboration story with AgentDreamX on A03.

* * *

Prologue

Magic is not Arthur's forte, and has never been. Today, however, he's using it to the best of his capabilities in his search. Invisible and non-detectable, he travels the foreign dimension in spirit form. It is a search for those of kind and pure hearts to serve as his honored knights. For his noble cause.

And while he never doubted the wise, thought out choices of his old friend before, he did not agree with this one. To place such a mantle and responsibility on one so young, one so unprepared... He has seen where Merlin's plan leads.

Arthur now has a plan of his own, however.

Searching through those that would know how to help is a laborious task, and finding a pair eligible to fit his needs, even harder.

He does find them though…

Two kind hearts of decent age and responsibility. They would be the perfect choices. They would aid Merlin's champion. He is sure of it.

He appears before them, simultaneously. One in a room of safety and wonder, and the other of warmth and dark comfort. His presence is seemingly tangible, and yet dreamlike. His form tall, commanding. The undeniable visage of a king.

"You have been chosen!" he states his voice echoing with power of his past and their now joined future, "My gracious gift to save Arcadia and those protecting it will fall to you, you will be strong together and you will be victorious!"

Looking over the shocked women before him he smiles, "You will do me proud."

Stepping back he starts to fade from their world, a pleased smile still shaping his words, "Save him! save Jim lake jr from his heavy fate!" swishing his cape about himself he is gone….

…One blink later, so are his two champions.


	2. Chapter 1

Notes: written by two authors.

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Chapter 1

It's quiet just out of town, the early hours slowly passing here with no one to see it… Then there is.

Two women appear, with no trace of how they got there or where the other is from.

Both are startled as they look about themselves, questioning were they are and how they got there. Then the women spot each other, as they stand hardly a meter apart, but as one opens their mouth (to ask one of many questions) a light illuminates them.

Two heads swivel to the source only for their eyes to widen in horror as two round headlights come zooming towards them.

With a yelp they dive off the road. There is a clatter as the car passes were they once stood, a few objects being thrown off to the side where they had landed in a heap.

The car careens off down the road, not a care for the girls and their near death.

Clambering off the hard pavement and each other, they both turn to look the other over. All the while avoiding direct eye contact, they gather themselves as light slowly grows brighter as the dim light of the sun starts to rise.

One stands, brushing her t-shirt off before holding her arms awkwardly across her chest. The other hugs her knees not rising from the damp ground where they had fallen.

"Who are you?" the former woman asks, her hands trying to shield her arms from the cool night air as her blue eyes give the other girl a quick once over.

This girl doesn't look like much, sitting on the damp grass by the pavement. The faint early morning light reveals her brown hair, brown eyes, and her glasses smudged with dirt from their tumble. Not intimidating, not strong, not like a champion.

Glancing up at the fairer haired woman she does answer, hesitantly, gripping her legs tighter as she finds her words. The close call with the car seems to have shaken her, "Anita… Who are you?" she peeks over the glasses.

"Hannah…" is the cautious reply. Neither of the two seem very trusting, having appeared in a strange place and almost dying in the last 10 minutes.

What a grand way to start their mission to "Save Arcadia" as Arthur had put it….

Silence blossoms between them, both avoiding each other's gaze. Arthur's supposed champions do not appear to be the brave sort he'd hoped for. They are worried and scared.. and don't know what to do or say.

Hannah's eyes trail over the area, over the now barren road, the tidy sparse trees next to them, and in the distance… buildings. Her mind is whirling as she comes to terms with what has happened. 'Where am I?' she thinks to herself as she looks into the unknown depths of the slow sunrise's shadows.

Anita is thinking much the same, but her head stays down, away from the stranger standing with her. She feels alone and scared, doesn't know where she is, or what's happening. She almost got... very hurt, and she doesn't know what to do. Listening to the breeze brushing past her, rustling the leaves of the nearby trees, something catches her eye.

Sitting on the soft earth, almost touching her foot is a gem… a large yellow, fist sized, gem. A very familiar one too.

Tentatively leaning forward her fingers brush the softly glowing rock, her movement catching her impromptu companion's eye as well. They both watch as she lifts the object, heavier than the innocent soft glow would suggest. It is a horngazel. Neither move for a moment before Anita finally looks up, bringing the stone to her chest like a safety line, "Where are we?" she asks, voice soft and sounding slightly desperate.

Hannah steps closer to the seated woman, wanting a closer look at the bizarre item. They hear a clink at her feet as she kicks something. Something metallic. They both look down, seeing a horseshoe. A slightly dented, slightly muddy horseshoe. "A…gaggletack…." Hannah states as she picks it up, frustrated she labeled a common item as something she'd seen in a cartoon. The night goes silent again as the objects' implications go through the girls' minds.

"Is this a dream?" she continues, looking over at Anita, who is wishing that it were true.

Looking at her own "impossible" item Anita can only softly shake her head in reply, stuttering out a shocked, "It… it feels too real…. What.. what do you think?" she asks unsure of herself.

"Y-you didn't happen to see a... a glowing man... Did you?" Hannah asks, coming to sit beside Anita. They both need the comfort, even from a stranger, and damp pants are not going to stop them from being together as they contemplate their fates.

Glancing over Anita looks surprised, "You mean the man in the crown? And the cape.. and armor… He.. said something about being chosen, didn't he?"

Nodding Hannah leans on her hand against her knee, thinking a moment as Anita fiddles with her gemstone.

"Chosen to save Arcadia…." Hannah muses.

Offhandedly Anita comments, "Like Trollhunters…" as she continues to look over the gem, only to pause as they both think over her words. She continues cautiously, "…That can't be right.. Right? That's… a cartoon?"


	3. Chapter 2

Notes: Here is where we start getting into the multiple POVs.

* * *

chapter 2

[Anita's Pov]

They had found a sign. Not too far from where they had almost been run over earlier that morning, they had spotted it as they had started off to see how true the mysterious ghost man had been.

It was in front of them, a clear large sign saying "Arcadia". It was blue, white and even had a bridge on it! This had to prove they were actually here, impossibly and yet actually in a children's cartoon.

As Anita looks over the sign, the wheels in her head grind to a stop by the backlog of questions with no answers. Her new… companion, Hannah, stands off to her side.

"Are we really in Trollhunters?" Hannah questions quietly in the new morning air.

Arcadia is definitely the name of the town from the show, so it has to be! Anita says as much to her companion as well, though admitably in a quieter tone than the voice inside her head.

Were they really in another world, another dimension?! A different plane of existence from their own? Anita almost feels like Captain Kirk thinking about it all. A world where magical beings live, where trolls and gnomes and monsters are real!

…that is assuming her own world doesn't have them….

How was teleportation possible, magic? All she had done was blink and then she was here. One moment in her bedroom sitting with her many stuffed toys and her laptop, the next on a road at with a complete stranger. Nothing had touched her that she was aware of, she didn't feel anything , how could this-

"This might be the real Arcadia though."

Her thoughts screech to a halt. Peering over at Hannah, who appears unconvinced by the sign, she asks, "What?" Turning to her properly, her hands fidget with the bottom of her hoodie as she asks.

Hannah looks apologetic as she glances back at Anita. Hannah then looks down at her arms that have stayed across her chest, "Arcadia is a town in California, not just in the show."

Anita deflates, "Oh… So its not proof… We still don't know.."

Only a moment had passed when a panicked thought occurs to her… If Arcadia was a real place, could seeing anything short of a real troll or the trollhunter actually prove where they were? If Arcadia is real, so could be the museum of Arcadia, or the school. Those places could have been created in the show from real world inspiration. What would they do then….

Hannah starts off down the street, walking slowly so Anita can catch up, "We should look around some more. Maybe we will recognize something."

"Okay.." is her soft reply, catching up and walking just behind the other. She could voice her thoughts, her doubts on being able to tell what is real and what is not, but she doesn't. She doesn't know Hannah really, and doesn't feel comfortable enough to mention it yet.. Maybe when they actually see something from the show.

The two walk together in the slowly warming air of Arcadia, watching the town wake up as more traffic fills the streets and they pass small shops.

However, they don't go deeper into town quite yet. Both searching for a different landmark that they would know well… The bridge.

It took longer than it probably should have to find it, and the sun had long since peeked above the horizon by the time they had. But together they walked, skirting round the town as they searched, until they had spotted it in the distance.

Now, standing on it, above the dry canal, looking over the edge… Anita had not expected it to be so normal.

She knew that there would of course be some difference between real life and the animations on the screen, but the differences were still jarring. And while it was a familiar canal, and might even have a trail leading to it over there that could be the one Jim uses, it's very hard to tell.

Leaning over the safety of the bridge's banister, peering into the shadows of the bridge itself, Anita chances a look at Hannah. Unfortunately she seems to be thinking something similar. Not leaning over the edge like she is, Hannah is still looking, and seems very unsure. That's slightly disappointing and reassuring at the same time. At least she isn't the only one.

* * *

[Hannah's pov]

This had to be a dream… it just had to.

In no reality would anyone find her to be "champion" material, especially not some armor clad specter insisting she save a cartoon character. Hell, she'd been laying in bed with the lights out in attempt to sooth a migraine…. Maybe Hannah had managed to fall asleep and now she was simply stuck in a vivid dream.

…too vivid.

As she peered over the edge, she was baffled to find the canal empty. Other than the ghost and two items from the street, nothing screamed imaginary. Hannah had been expecting to see something down there. Kanjigar's shattered body, maybe? Or perhaps a character from some other tv show she's watched? Just not some realistic, empty, cement canal.

"We should keep looking." Hannah suggests to the other woman.

Now that had to be the strangest bit of this whole illusion. Hannah's dreams were always filled with people and things she knows well…. And yet (no matter how hard she tries) she does not recognize Anita.

"Oh, um..." the darker haired brunette mumbles, settling for a polite nod instead of a verbal reply. Anita hasn't spoken much, neither of the pair have, but Hannah can tell the other woman has a foreign accent.

Hannah then begins to walk across the bridge, listening to the other's steps as they continue on.

They finally stroll into the center of town, where the little mom and pop shops give way to grocery stores and fast-food restaurants (hmm… she was beginning to feel a bit hungry). And further down leads to things like banks and…. Is that the-

"The museum." Anita confirms.

Hannah's chest tightens…. This can't be real. It can't, and she will prove it.

She fumbles a little pulling her cellphone from her jean pocket and going straight to Google. "The school! If any of this is real, Jim and Toby and Claire would be at the high school right now." Turning to face her companion, who is now hovering at her side, curious what she was doing, she continues. "And it's only 10:53, so we have plenty if time to find it…."

Her Google search proves useful when she manages to find the address of the only high school said to be located in Arcadia, California. Unfortunately said high school is named Arcadia Oaks High, and their mascot just happens to be a bright purple mole.

With a deep breath, Hannah tries to think logically. It could just be a coincidence, or this still might be nothing more than a dream.

Her train of thought is derailed by a soft grumble to her left. Seems she wasn't the only one getting hungry. "…And enough time to get something to eat." Hannah adds, checking her pockets for any loose cash. She comes up with a little more than 2 dollars.

Anita's expression instantly drops when she catches sight of the currency, twisting her fingers in the hem of her shirt.

"I don't have any money.." She says apologetically, "Not that it would be of any use here anyway."

So, Hannah had been right about the accent, but her spare change couldn't buy more than a cheap appetizer or a single item off a dollar menu.

"Th-that's okay…" Hannah tries to sound positive. "Maybe we can share something-"

The undeniable ring of a school bell pierces the air just then, derailing any thoughts she had about food. The school was close. Real close. In fact, why wait? "-After we check the school." She finishes, carefully eyeing Anita to gage her reaction on the suggested change of plan.

Hannah doesn't know how to go about explaining her desire to hurry (and she's also not quite comfortable telling a stranger what they should do)…. But she also doesn't want to go it alone.

"Just a quick peak? It's so close." She adds tentatively.

To her surprise (and relief) Anita agrees, looking in the direction of the bell. "It would be nice to know where we are." Where they really are.

And so the pair resume their walk in a relative silence, sticking close to each other the entire way. They don't end up having to go very far before the school was in plain view…. And maybe their curiosity got the better of them, but neither stop to think of the possible ramifications of two adults just walking onto school property.

Instead they glance through windows they pass by. Only, the difference between real life and animation becomes more prevalent than the rest of this entire experience. However well animated Trollhunters may be, it's not this detailed with people. Small things suddenly pop out, further deterring Hannah's confidence in recognizing one of the kids or even Strickler.

Five minutes of glancing through windows has her heavily focusing on one teacher that may or may not be that one math teacher from the show when a firm hand grips Hannah's shoulder. It's the first time Anita has intentionally touched her, and in response Hannah turns to ask what's wrong or if she spotted one of the kids. Anita's eyes are wide behind her glasses, and she's pointing behind-

"Hey! You two!" a deep yet vaguely familiar voice calls out. "Where's your visitors' passes?"

There's only so many thoughts that come to mind when a top heavy, muscular, glaring man is marching towards them, and their folly of a choice suddenly comes to light…. Run.

"Left them in the car!" is Hannah's sad excuse of a reply, before she and Anita bolt down the hallway for the exit. The sound of the man's heavy footsteps and demands to "stop right there" only serve to encourage their sprint. Slamming against the doors and bursting outside, they find the closest thing to duck behind, the school sign.

The women just barely manage to hide when the man follows through those same doors. The next minute or so is tense, and the pair do their best to quiet their breathing. Only after they hear the doors open and close once again, do they relax.

Still breathing fairly hard and knees burning from their escape, Hannah whispers to Anita. "So… What now?"

* * *

Notes: It's a day late, but whatever. We try to post a new chapter every other week.


	4. Chapter 3

Notes: Since this is written by two authors, I dare you to guess which pov is mine each multi-pov chapter.

* * *

Chapter 3

[Anita pov]

Hearing the doors to the school close, Anita relaxes against the school sign at her back. They found it! This is their school! The courtyard looked right, that might have been the math teacher (or was she just the drama teacher?), and that was definitely the Coach!

Anita can't believe it! She just met (in a way) an animated character, that's real! He has to be an animated character too, only in tv shows and movies is the Gym teacher that massive.

This is amazing.

In response to Hanna's query, Anita turns to her, a large grin plastered to her face as she does… But then she sees Hannah's downcast expression. There's also a waver in the other's voice and Anita's smile quickly slips away.

Isn't this amazing?... Well it is terrifying too but…

"Well, this means it's real, right?," she starts, sounding uncertain but also less shy from their discovery together, "That we really got kidnapped and sent to a cartoon universe, with real trolls and magic…"

As she continued her eyes slipped away from Hannah, fully realizing the ….scary bits of what's happened.

"Honestly?" Hannah says beside her, voice soft as they both contemplate what they had seen so far, "I can't tell if this is all one big dream or not."

Looking to the other girl (and kidnap victim), despite her own fears and worry, Anita feels a sudden strong need to comfort her.

Scooching across the grass a little, still hidden by the sign behind them, Anita puts a hesitant hand on Hannah's shoulder. Hannah seems startled by this and looks up. Anita can see the worry there and smiles gently, "I really don't think this is a dream, but it's ok, we will figure this out, yeah?"

Taking her hand back, letting it fall once again to her lap, she awkwardly looks away and starts to ramble a little. Anita doesn't move away though. "I mean, you can only dream of people you have seen before anyway, you can't make them up.."

Hannah still appears to be skeptical, yet does look a little touched. For Anita, that's good enough at the moment. She's coming to find herself very grateful that she wasn't sent here alone.

For a while they stay behind the arcadia oaks school sign, figuring out what to do next in their little misadventure...

And then they spot the bike racks.

One thing they both know about this show, and Jim and Toby, is that they ride to school.

It's quickly decided on that they will wait here, as the two main characters will have to leave school at some point and that will be their chance to….to what?

Having been waiting on the grass for a while now, Anita wonders what their plan actually is. After figuring out how to spot them they hadn't really spoken further….

What would they do? Go up to them? Tell them what happened? They're just teen boys! What if it's too early and he's not even the trollhunter yet? (Then again, meeting Kanjigar could be very cool…) Maybe they would follow them? Aaanndd….. do what?

Thinking about it has Anita holding her head against her knees with a small groan. She hates not knowing what to do, not having a proper plan.

Sitting in the grass, knees up to her chest and resting her head on them, Anita takes stock of the day so far. She almost died via a car; proceeded to wander 'round an animated town with a stranger (she sort of just went with them not knowing what else to do); and now that they have proof (kinda) they wait.

Sighing to herself, she rubs her head on her knees in defeat, trying to ignore the grumbling coming from her middle, and hopping its quiet enough Hannah doesn't hear. They're gonna die here, starve to death, or freeze during the night, or get attacked by a troll. Why did that ghost King think they were any good for this? She doesn't think she is.

Lost in her depressing thoughts Anita is startled when a van drives past the school, getting far to close in her opinion considering that morning's scare.

Looking round she can see Hannah had been distracted by the van as well. Anita is about to turn back to their current target when Hannah says, "That's a food truck."

Her stomach gives a loud opinion on the nearby food.

Embarrassed Anita looks to Hannah, knowing it isn't her place to ask for anything. They're here together but she can't exactly contribute to the bill. She shouldn't have worried though. Hannah starts to stand and nods over to the van, digging out her meager money, "Think we could get food now, we're both pretty hungry. Come on."

Anita doesn't hesitate, leaving her post at the sign she follows Hannah to the food truck eagerly. She's been starving for a while and is excited by the prospect of food.

The truck isn't much to look at, but it smells amazing as they go over. Anita hovers behind Hannah as she orders from them. Anita is very, very thankful that they had a little money between them, and that Hannah was willing to share.

"Isn't that name familiar?" Hannah questions quietly, looking at the menu while waiting for her order, "Diablo Maximus?"

"I…I don't know… I'm not good at names." Anita replies. She feels rather useless when it comes to their research. It seemed like Hannah knew a lot more about Trollhunters than she did, and her bad memory for names is just putting her further behind. "Couldn't that be a name in lots of places though? Maxiumus seems kinda generic?"

As they discussed the taco's name and wait for their food together, a bell goes off behind them. Unfortunately, Anita is too engrossed in her thoughts and watching the food be made in the small truck, and Hannah didn't seem to notice the familiar sound of a school bell either.

They don't even notice as a short boy comes over and orders something for himself.

Anita is getting frustrated by their search. Everything could be a coincidence, at least as far as Hannah is convinced... But it can't all be coincidence. There is too much that seems familiar for one town, and they had seen the coach! It just had to be true.

Looking back at the School in thought, it takes Anita a moment to notice the stream of kids leaving the school. They missed the bell!

Turning around quickly to Hannah, an explanation on her lips, Anita almost gives herself whiplash as she screeches to a halt and watches the short boy in the red sweater vest leave the truck.

She knew that terrible hair cut anywhere!

Watching silently, Anita pats Hannah's shoulder, her eyes transfixed on the teen boy walking over to his taller black haired friend.

"I-I-It's-" Anita stutters watching the kids as they get on there bikes.

As Hannah looks round, Anita can just point, squeaking out in awe, "It's Toby and Jim…"

* * *

[Hannah's pov]

There are only so many details one could ignore before denial is no longer an option. The two boys, that have already mounted their bikes and are heading off in the opposite direction, manage to break through Hannah's skepticism.

Even with the extreme differences between reality and a cartoon's 3D animation, the pair are unmistakable. From their relative proportions to their clothes and to their hair styles, every detail screams the hard truth Hannah had been trying to suppress. There is no place in her dreams for such a drastic and yet perfect change.

She finds herself taking a few rushed steps forwards before the boys are riding away and out of sight. Her momentary impulse to chase is subdued by just how tired she is…. How infuriating.

"They were right there… and we missed them." Hannah sighs, turning back to face Anita.

Damn does she feel foolish for telling Anita that she thought all of this could possibly be a dream. She had basically told the only person who could understand her situation that they didn't exist. Then both women had paid no attention to the school, allowing Jim and Toby to slip on by (not that they really had a plan on what to do once they found them, but still).

The other woman shyly brushes a stray hair from in front of her glasses with a sigh of her own, a worried frown on her face. Anita looks to be just as worn out from this stressful morning, and Hannah is glad that her downcast gaze is directed off to where the boys vanished instead of on herself.

Before Hannah can apologize for paying more attention to the name of a taco/burrito sauce than to the school, a cheery voice calls out, "Your food, miss!" and offers up a single wrapped taco (the largest one she could afford because it was on sale).

Anita sticks close to her side when she goes to accept their order in exchange for what little Hannah had in her pocket, but not too close as to be intrusive. It's enough to hint that the dark brunette is hungry and yet kind enough not to demand that she share.

"Let's find a place to sit down and eat" Hannah puts on an encouraging smile and continues, "I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted." Not to mention that she also wanted to have a decent conversation with her new companion. They hardly know each other and it would be nice to plan out what they were going to do from here on out. Were they to do as the specter said, or simply try to survive and find a way back home.

"Sounds good. Where would you like to…" Anita glances around, seeming to realize their surroundings "….sit?" she asks.

Neither of the two want to stay by the school, especially since there is a chance that coach Lawrence might spot them again… But where to go? Hannah doesn't want to walk far and kinda wants to be someplace secluded so they could talk freely without a passerby listening in on their conversation and thinking them crazy- "How about under the bridge?" she suggests.

The other girl looks amused at the suggestion but only shrugs in agreement, She doesn't seem to want weigh too heavily on where they go.

"And we…." Think Hannah, think! Need something to make it look like a good option, "We could wait there to see if Jim and Toby show up to go to Trollmarket."

This seems to be motivating enough for the other girl, and the two of them begin to walk in the bridge's general direction. Anita's expression becomes something less unsure and more quizzical.

"You don't think we've shown up when Blinky is leading them do you?" she questions after a few minutes of thought.

"No." Hannah immediately replies, "I know I only saw them for a moment, but they looked calm. Happy even. I just don't think they would be so relaxed after everything that's happened in season 2." Her reasoning seems to be taken well enough. Anita nods a little then asks, "So, this could be the beginning of the show? I didn't see Kanjigar's body in the canal."

"I noticed that too. Maybe he isn't dead yet. Anyways, if we wait under the canal, we might get a better idea of when in the show we are. If we see Jim and Toby go to Trollmarket, it means that Kanjigar is already dead and Jim is the Trollhunter."

Finally. A decent conversation.

By the time they reach the bridge, Hannah's paranoia of being overheard is long gone and they are beginning to warm up to one another. They told each other about their brief experience with the ghost and learn little bits and pieces about one another. It isn't until they settle down under the bridge that their voices quiet and Hannah does her best to tare the lone taco evenly down the middle.

She offers half to Anita with an apologetic smile. "I got their Diablo Maximus taco because it was on sale. If this is as strong as the stuff in the tv show suggests, it's probably really spicy."

That does momentarily derail the other girl from eating right away, having her look at the shared taco with suspicion. However, hunger gets the best of both of them and they're soon eating their meager meal.

Oh. OH HOLY.

Anita must be REALLY hungry cause she just keeps nibbling away though she's obviously struggling with it, her face screwed up as she munches away quickly in a failed attempt to eat it before the creeping burn of the taco sauce gets to be too much. Hannah, on the other hand, is sorely unprepared for just how her generally high tolerance for heat is being squashed by this sauce, but at least she's able to hide her reactions somewhat.

Together they struggle to down their halves and fall into a relative silence once their food is gone. Once again it becomes awkward between the two, as neither know just what to say to the other. Hannah has no more motivation to spark up a conversation and begins fiddling with her cellphone. It's nearly at full battery which is a relief (as she doesn't happen to have a charger on hand).

Anita finally breaks the silence with a soft "Thank you for sharing" looking once again intrigued by the properly working phone. Hmmm… Maybe it is weird that her phone has internet service in a tv show's town-

"Do my champions actually plan on remaining complacent?" a deep voice echoes from above them, startling the pair (Hannah has to fumble to keep a grip on her phone). "I gave you the key to Heartstone Trollmarket for a reason."

The underside of the bridge is then washed over in a warm golden glow emanating from a misty floating orb.

"You two should not take your responsibilities so lightly."

* * *

Notes: Twist! (Sorry if it isn't obvious) These women were sent before they got the chance to watch season 3.


	5. Chapter 4

Notes: this was such a hard chapter to write.

* * *

Chapter 4

[Arthur's pov]

As it turns out, the forceful displacement of two people into another reality and the conjuring of two items is draining on one's energy. Especially when the one responsible is a far cry weaker than Merlin, or the Pale Lady even, in the likes of sorcery. And yet the king's efforts proved successful enough for Arthur to reward himself with a much needed respite (and chance to sit back and watch).

His chosen knights proved wary despite the shift, managing to avoid impact with an unsuspecting automobile, and they were quick to confirm their location for themselves…. However, one cannot help but wonder if Arthur hadn't spent quite enough time selecting his would be champions.

Maybe he had been a little… impatient... with his selection.

Most eligible candidates for this task were too young and soft. Mere children. The first pair of responsible adults with goodwill embedded firmly in their hearts had been too tempting a find to pass up.

Now, he's not so sure. Something unbefitting of a king.

The one wearing spectacles spoke little and seemed to simply follow the other woman's suggestions without any fuss, lacking the courage to speak bluntly. And said other woman was exceedingly pessimistic and had looked far too weathered down by that simple sprint away from the coach.

…And now they sit here and wait for destiny to simply fall where it may.

Arthur is tired of waiting.

Energy restored, he called out to them, reminding them of his gifts. If they are not yet the champions he needs, he will aid them to become such. To lead them to their full potential.

The women turn to him with wide eyes. The pair shielded behind glass lenses are steady pools of awe and wonder. The second pair start off similarly so, however set into something more frigid.

"It's like Merlin…" Anita mumbles softly. Agreeing with a small nod, Hannah grits her teeth and asks, "Who are you?"

He did forget to introduce himself, didn't he? "I am Arthur Pendragon, son of Uther Pendragon. The most renowned of past kings of England, and I now stand before you as a protector of all mankind-"

"Your voice is the same one I heard in my bedroom!" the fairer haired woman snapped in recognition, effectively interrupting his introduction.

The poorly worded sentence earns a few moments pause before Arthur resumes his speech, "I stand a protector for all mankind, and you-" his golden form pulses "will be my tools in doing so. Jim lake, the whole of Arcadia and the world need your knowledge and support. This is no time to dally around and waste what precious time we have."

"We were just checking if this was real. We weren't wasting time." Anita's mumble is even softer than the last, her gaze landing on her own lap. Arthur's presence a humbling experience for her, if also a little intimidating. Hannah smiles softly in response.

"Yet do you not see the impracticality in that presently?" Arthur pulses once more "What do you plan to do, now that I have confirmed your concerns?"

Anita glances to the horngazle resting by her side. "Well….. we could go into Trollmarket. We do have the key for it, and the boys will probably think we're crazy if we try to just tell them."

He didn't expect everything to fall apart. The two had seemingly formed a pleasant acquaintance-ship during the short span they've known each other… yet Hannah turns to the other in shock.

"Wait. Hold up." she dragged a hand down her face "We could get killed if we're caught down there, and you! You drag us out of our homes and just expect us to cater to you?"

Now Arthur is seeing, what moments ago had been tired and yet content faces, morph into agitated glares. Only one was directed at himself, and the other more guarded one at Hannah.

Anita frowns saying, "We'll just have to keep hidden while we're in there. Besides, if Jim and Toby don't believe us they might call the cops on us. That or ignore us, then we will just be hobos with no money, and we'll starve to death."

Really, this isn't what he'd expected. Hannah's expression is now less of a glare, and more afraid. Paranoid, really. She leans away to distance herself from the glowing orb and other woman.

"Don't you get it? The bigger risk is still us simply waltzing into Trollmarket with no real agenda. We don't know our way around there. What exactly do you expect to find out by snooping? What if Gunmar is down there right now? What if this is before Jim became the trollhunter? We don't have the same leverage that Jim had. And no doubt any trolls would be able to sniff us out in a matter of minutes! The boys are a safer bet."

Arthur is unable to get a word in to answer any of her questions, as it would seem Hannah has opted to ignore him. How annoying. Luckily enough, his other champion took notice of his plight and manages to redirect their focus onto the king by stopping the rant with a query of her own.

"What time in the show did you send us Mr Arthur, uh King Arthur? Like, what episode? Or is it before or after the series?" she says to the golden orb.

A very pressing matter indeed. If only he had a solid reply. As much as he hates to admit, magic is a very tedious thing with which Arthur only knows the most basic of steps. To get an exact placement would have taken a fully trained wizard. Not to mention that he knows this reality better from a normal perspective, while his knights only know it as a child's tv show. He huffs, "Sometime in what you would refer to as season one, I would think." A point in Anita's favor.

"Which means that Gunmar hasn't taken over Trollmarket yet. There's no gumgums down there that could eat us." Anita surmised, "The other trolls may not trust us if we're caught, but they wouldn't just kill us like gumgums, changelings, or goblins would." She counts the various dangers off on her fingers, "Besides, they know more about magic than Jim and Toby. They would be more likely to believe us if we explained everything. I mean, they can't argue with King Arthur-"

"Actually, only the pair of you are able see me." God knows he doesn't have the power and/or energy to present himself to anyone else. A point in Hannah's favor.

"The trolls won't believe us without him. Heck, none of them believed Jim could be the trollhunter even after he summoned his armor for them." She presses, though her voice is beginning to soften to more of a whisper, "If the boys show up, it means they know that magic exists too. Only, we don't have to worry about century old prejudices if we talk to them first."

Anita doesn't seem to notice Hannah's sudden lackluster for this argument, or maybe just wants to have her opinion voiced and replies saying, "If we talk to Jim before he's the trollhunter, he'll think we're nuts. If he is the trollhunter, Toby will probably come up with some terribly obvious lie, and they'll run off before we can explain ourselves. Then they'd just wait until we left to go to Trollmarket. If Claire's with them, they will just use one of her portals …"

Hmm. The younger woman has gone completely still, her gaze focused on something behind Arthur. Anita has yet to wonder why as she continues (not that she could have seen what held the other girl's attention with Arthur in the way).

"…Anyways, Jim and Toby will think we're changelings or something, and avoid us like the plague-"

"Oooooo my god! They know our names!" a new voice squeals.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Comes another voice's demand.

The woman's mouth snaps shut with an audible click. Arthur then takes that as his cue to dissipate and return to his less energy consuming state as an invisible specter, revealing the two boys that had walked into their heated discussion.

* * *

Notes: interesting thing, me and the other author had a... "disagreement" on what to do here. We then turned our argument into this chapter. Our actual argument was much longer and we were both being stubborn while also trying to be nice. It's funny to me, now that I think about it.


	6. Chapter 5

Notes: sorry for posting late! Hope you still enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 5

[Anita's Pov]

Staring where Mr-King-Ghost Arthur used to be, Anita freezes where she sits. The only movement coming from her is her hanging jaw as she tries to complete the momentous task of answering the angry teen boy while her brain reboots.

Unfortunately this doesn't go very smoothly because the Trollhunter is RIGHT THERE.

Anita is mentally panicking as the two boys look at her in varying degrees of confusion and fear themselves.

They must have heard something, Oh god, what did they hear?! And what should she say? They already don't look like they trust them. They will think they're nuts if the pair say they're just two random girls from maybe the same parallel world that a magic spirit brought here to help Jim fight an evil bloody troll!

They are so real too! They're actual flesh and blood and here, and it's too much to handle all at once!

Sitting on the concrete ground of the barren canal with the boy's eyes on her, it is all she can do to stutter out in panicked, "I-..I.. You….We….We..we are-"

"We're witches."

Anita whips her head round so fast her glasses almost fall of her nose as she stares at Hannah with wide eyes, having almost forgotten the other girl was there in her personal terror.

Hannah seems more relaxed though, more in control and it makes Anita just a little jealous that she doesn't seem to be panicking over the recent developments as much as she personally is.

"Witches?" comes the skeptical voice of non-other than Mr Trollhunter himself.

Looking back to the kids, at a more normal pace as she fixes her glasses, she can tell they don't really believe Hannah but also that they don't completely think its impossible.

Thank god for troll weirdness.

"Y-Yes." Anita adds in, their eyes snap to her as she speaks. She swallows heavily under their gazes, "Prophet witches? To be exact…" she barley gets out her words getting softer as they stare at her.

At least it's a good explanation for why they know so much (if the teens heard anything... and if they know what 'prophet' means).

Oh god, they must look mad.

Looking between the girls, Jim (cause it could be no one else) looks to Toby (surprisingly not as small as Anita had thought) and they seem to silently agree on something.

"Witches, sure. Whatever you say." Jim says, his voice echoing disbelief threw the canal.

"Yeah witches, totally real." Toby adds in, inching closer to Jim. Looks like Toby is pretty nervous.

"So anyway," Jim continues, turning on his heals, pointedly away from under the bridge and there probable original destination, "Lets go Tobes, we got that… homework to do, right?"

"OH! Yeah homework, lets go!"

They can't be this obvious at hiding something, can they…?

Anita, even as embarrassed and half panicked as she is over this event, watches their little act with a critical eye. And to be honest, their act is embarrassing.

They don't even take one step before she pipes up, half because she needs them to… stay, and half (maybe partially) cause she wants to show off.

"We know about the trolls."

The two teens freeze in their poorly pretend-to-be-casual steps.

Toby looks to Jim with varying degrees of worry before looking over his shoulder with a nervous laugh, "Trolls? What are those? They can't be real."

Not wanting to drag this on, Anita, who has got more of a grip on herself and is clasping her hands tightly in her lap, decides that if she says enough they can't just ignore her… right….?

She looks to Hannah to try and get her nerves before she speaks, "Trolls, the rock people who live nearby in an underground community called Trollmarket? They eat nearly everything?"

Seeing what Anita is doing, Hannah even pipes in, ignoring the increasingly worried looks on the teen boys' faces, "Terrible breath, don't wear pants often."

"I-I really don't know what your talking about." Jim's eyes were too wide and his voice too worried to be very believable though.

Anita sighs, looking to the boy with softer eyes. This can't be easy for the kid. Knowing about trolls and keeping it secret from people that have no idea is one thing. Trying to keep everything hidden while potentially dangerous people are just spouting it must be terrifying. Good thing there are no goblins about.

"One lives at your house Jim, in the basement?"

"They know about Draal!" comes an overly loud whisper from the shorter boy, who's currently shaking Jim. That is, until all the eyes in the canal land on him. Taking his hands back to himself, he looks at each person in turn before, with a self conscious shrug, he guiltily asks Jim, "Too loud?"

It was out now, they both know the other knew this big secret. This has to have the boys believe them a little, right? How else would they know?

"CHANGLINGS! Oh my god, Jim get them!"

Ok… yeah a changeling would know. Anita hadn't considered that. She also wasn't expecting the heavy metal horseshow that came flying through the air. Least it didn't hit her.

"Ow! Watch it!" It did unfortunately hit Hannah. That's going to bruise… 'Least it missed me.' thinks Anita.

"Careful. We're only human, humans who want to help you by the way, and that thing's heavy." Anita warns uncertainly, loosing some of her confidence now that she can't just spout facts. She is also a little worried about having something thrown at her, even if Toby is the one throwing it.

Jim narrows his eyes, looking between the girls and the horseshoe. Toby notices the look as well and it seems he catches the Trollhunter's idea.

"Prove it," Jim replies smoothly, seeming more confident now that he has a plan, "Touch the gaggletack." he tells them, gesturing to the horseshoe now sitting on the concrete (after having been thrown at Hannah).

Hannah isn't fazed by Jim's new confidence at all and practically stomps over to the horseshoe and swipes it off the ground, making quite the show of touching it while looking at the teens. Doesn't look like she appreciated being hit by it earlier.

Hannah, after an exaggerated eye roll, hands it to Anita who takes it more carefully, giving a smile to the boys. 'See? Nothing. We're not changelings, promise. Not dangerous. Just 20ish aged women pretending to be witches.

Having seen both of them touch the horseshoe with no effect (and knowing there would be one if they were changelings) Jim seems to be looking between them as he thinks. He also quickly looks over to the wall under the canal's bridge. Only once and quick enough he probably thinks it wouldn't be noticed, but as they stand in an awkward silence, Anita does see and knows why.

Jim then takes a breath and with it stands taller, a determined look covering his worry as he announces, "Ok! Well then, your coming with me."

Anita has never been so happy to be kidnapped by teen boys.

* * *

[Jim's Pov]

Jim isn't sure what he had been expecting today, but it wasn't this.

How did his normal teenage life of school and homework get so weird? He could almost cope with the trolls and man eating gum gums. Witches, however, is pushing him over his limit.

He had started that day fairly normal too. Get up, check on his mom, hang out with Toby, check out the new Vespa. Then it went down hill, cause of course a baby was being kidnapped by a goblin right then! Toby doesn't even believe him either. Blinky would though… he's sure he would. He couldn't even get down to Trollmarket to try and talk to the man(… uh Troll?) though cause of two "witches".

Witches that look nothing like witches, if those even look like he's imagining. Aren't witches suppose to be green with boils and back cats?

The two woman with him look too… normal. Yeah one is wearing black and seems grumpy, but she doesn't seem magical or anything. The other woman can hardly look at them, she's so shy!

Walking behind both women, Jim and Toby are leading them back to his home and the large troll who's currently guarding it.

He couldn't exactly walk them into Trollmarket with just their words of assurance. Well… their words and the creepy amount of stuff they know, if they are just humans (witches are still human right?). Jim couldn't just leave them on their own either. What if they were enemies and would have run back and told Bular something the moment Jim was out of sight? No. He needs to keep an eye on them and get information. Draal was his only option. He might not know as much as Blinky, but he knows more about magic and troll stuff than they do. He really hopes this somehow relates to troll stuff and Draal will know what to do.

"Sooooo…" Jim is pulled from his thoughts as the dark grumpy witch starts talking again (they had been real quiet since they left the canal and started walking through the forest towards his home).

Jim isn't sure if he really wants to hear more from them, but Toby doesn't seem as worried as he is and eagerly replies, "Sooo?"

"So you know about the changelings?"

Toby looks surprised that the woman knows for a moment, before remembering that he had thrown a horseshoe at her earlier, "Oh, yeah, yeah we do."

"Which ones you know?" the shy witch asks, peeking at Toby in interest. Huh, the only time she's not shy is when she knows or wants information. Suspicious.

"Why do you want to know?" Jim asks, watching the two women. The shy one looks nervously away and fiddles with the bottom of her zip-up while the grumpy one just seems to roll her eyes at his suspicion.

"Just… we want to help, so if we knew….." The woman continues but soon trails off, not sure what to say or how.

"You know about the pink one?" asks Dark girl, not bothering with being subtle.

"Oh! The museum lady! You know about her too!"

Jim hates how pleased the dark one looks with herself as Toby replies, "Do you know about the one at the dentist too?! I was so sure it would be the dentist himself but…" Toby continues, rather excited to have someone else to talk about their discoveries with…. Well, someone else who is 'maybe' a human anyway.

"And the green one?" she interrupts Toby's chattering, curious. Aren't they suppose to be doing what jim wants? It wasn't their plan to get caught, was it? Maybe they are the enemy after all…

"Oh." the shy one smiles, looking over at Toby and the other woman, seeming to catch onto the changeling that they're talking about.

Wait… green one? What green one?! Jim had already killed the one at the dentist's office.

"You know," she starts, missing Jim's alarmed look as she looks to Toby's excited expression, "small, snarky, wears a diaper."

"You know where a changeling is?!" Jim suddenly shouts. There is a silence following the exclamation. Toby looks fit to burst in excitement, Jim can't tell if the grumpy woman is annoyed or simply tired, and the shy one looks startled. The boy then looks about them. Jim had just yelled in the middle of the street, the group having just left the woods.

Toby notices the sudden tension and the glances shared between the other three members of their little group, and side-steps smoothly up to Jim, "So they know about a changeling. Now they can just tell us, right? They say they're here to help, riiiighht?" he stretches out the word and looks to the woman gesturing for them to help him out here.

Seems Toby already trusts them, even if they sound mad. Then again, hadn't he gone along with Jim when he had just found out about his armor?

While Hannah doesn't really contribute, Anita can see that they need Jim to calm down and hopefully trust them, "Yes! Of course!" she replies, nodding her head as she fidgets with her hands, "I'll tell you what you want about Notenrique, promise."

Jim isn't sure he wants to believe the stranger, specially as he has no idea how she even knows this much about changelings. But Jim needs this information if he plans to stop Bular.

"Ok, where is this Notenrique guy then?" he demands.

This leaves Anita in a difficult position, as Jim obviously has no idea where this changeling is from.

"Um.. well, he's a.. little changeling, like," She gestures about a foot in height awkwardly, "so he's hiding as a.. um… baby." she cringes waiting for their reaction.

Jim's eyes go wide as the event from that morning suddenly makes sense," the goblin took the baby for the changelings Tobes!"

"What?! You mean the bird from this morning? Come on man, we don't know that."

"They just said they know a baby changeling!"

"I thought you didn't believe them! And who says it's a baby changeling from today! No way it's the same one."

Watching the argument go back and forth, the women stand together. Anita is worried about what revealing info might do to the story, or what it might have the boys think of her. Hannah is curious of what they will do with the information as well, though is rather unimpressed that apparently the answer is argue about if it's true or not.

"Hey!" she says just loud enough to give the teen boys pause, their words falling silent, "Have you been offered a babysitting job from Claire yet?"

The following silence is a tense one. The boys mull over what exactly the woman is implying, and Anita looks rather shocked that her companion is giving away information so freely.

"So you're telling me….." Jim grips the sides of his head, "that Claire's brother is a changeling?!"

* * *

Notes: we keep stressing out poor Jim.


	7. Chapter 6

Notes: we expect updates to come a little slower than usual due to our busy schedules.

* * *

Chapter 6

[Hannah's pov]

It might just be that she's tired and now has the beginnings of a dull headache, but the shouting seems rather unwarranted. No, she didn't expect Jim to react positively to her implication, but was yelling really necessary?

They're currently walking through the suburbs, a place where they could be easily seen and draw attention. Hannah glances around to see if anyone noticed, is peeking out of their windows, or coming outside to pinpoint the ruckus…. Yet not a soul does.

This might make sense if it was sometime around midnight, but it's not. Sunset was not too long ago.

Hm…. Maybe it's just cartoon logic? Everyone in town seems to be indoors after sunset in the tv show, and they blame all strange sounds on raccoons-

"He can't be! How can you steal a baby without the family noticing?"

Ah yes… back to the discussion. Hannah blinks a couple of times, trying to regain focus.

"Look, it will be easiest if you act like everything is normal for now. When Claire asks you to babysit, accept." She suggests with a shrug "That should also be proof that we are in fact witches-" she can see Anita momentarily cringe at the blatant lie "-and that we aren't working with Bular."

Jim seems to consider this, arms relaxing and falling to his sides instead of gripping his head in panic. Toby is simply nodding along with her reasoning. Good.

They're quiet for a while after that. The small group cross the street, each person deep in thought… except for Hannah. She's simply pleased to have some peace and quiet for the time being.

Jim then quickly ushers the pair towards one of the many houses and they follow along without any complaints.

They enter without caution or secrecy, so Hannah assumes that Barbara isn't back from the hospital yet… And that they must look pretty underwhelming if Jim is willing to take them into his house.

Wait.

Jim opens the door to the basement and calls out, "It's me Draal."

"Shouldn't you be in Trollmarket? Now is not the time to shirk on your training, trollhunter."

Holy… Hannah can't suppress a shiver when vivid red and yellow eyes peer up from the base of the stairway, the poor lighting of the basement dulling the rest of the hulking troll's features. She can feel Anita step closer to her as they watch the son of Kanjigar ascend the steps.

Now, Draal held more of a resemblance to his animated one than Jim and Toby did, but that didn't make him look any less intimidating. He easily loomed over the pair once he reached the top. His stone hide and the jagged gems protruding from his back look less welcoming than their animated counterparts…. He could kill them both with one good hit… and they know it.

"What is this! More fleshbags," the troll growls, gesturing to the women "or are they impure."

Hannah's fighting to keep from visibly shaking as his eyes scrutinize them up and down. Anita has gone stone still (haha) and is gripping the other girl's shoulder. They are supposed to know trolls. They are supposed to be acting normal or at least semi-fine in the presence of one.

Jim shakes his head saying, "Not changelings. We already checked. They said that they're… witches." "Prophecy witches!" Toby eagerly corrects, "And they say they want to help Jim."

At this, Draal looks confused and more than a little skeptical. His pupils narrow to fine points.

Damn it! Even if the correct term for the female version of a wizard is a witch, maybe trolls would call one a sorceress instead (Hannah doesn't remember the show ever referring to the Pale Lady as either, so she couldn't be sure). And while adding "prophet" might have made more sense with the boys, it probably sounds like rubbish to a troll.

"Anyways," a hand on each woman's back pushes them towards the basement stairs, right past Draal. They're both forced to move onto the first of the steps. "I'll see if you're lying. Draal can guard you till then."

The troll huffs at the idea of having to watch over them, but moves to fill the basement entrance, deterring any ideas of escape.

Hannah has to partially pull Anita down the steps, the other girl's movements being slow and stiff. She wants to talk to Anita, but that will be difficult now that they're going to be sharing this small basement with a troll. While it may seem that everything is going well for the most part, it would be nice to put their memories together and form a timeline of important events. Or maybe just decide what do next.

The moment they reach the bottom of the stairs, they can hear the door close and the troll begin to make his way down as well. They move to the furthest corner of the room just as Draal begins to make himself comfortable at the base of the steps, those bright eyes of his trained on them. Unwavering and…. Curious? Doesn't matter.

Hannah decides to make the most of it and settle down on the cement floor. "This isn't too bad." Hannah whispers with a smile "Once Jim has proof-"

"Witches?! You went with witches?!" The now familiar golden form of Arthur all but hisses, his earlier formality and regal presence completely absent.

The women quickly glance between the floating orb and Draal who is still simply watching, not reacting at all to Arthur or his shouts. After a few more glances in the troll's direction to affirm he can neither see nor hear the king, Hannah opens her mouth to reply yet Anita beats her to it.

"That was her idea." Anita whispers, gesturing to the other girl "Not mine."

"Merlin's a wizard, Arthur here has magic, the Pale lady is a witch or sorceress or whatever." Hannah's voice gets even quieter as she continues. "Witch just made sense at the time. At least I came up with something. You were speechless."

This time, Anita is the one cut short from replying.

"Knights!" the king exclaims, "You are my knights! Handpicked for your worthy hearts – your inherent desire to do good – to do what is right for others! Not for your lies!"

"But what if those lies are the best way to assist those who would not accept our help otherwise?" Hannah counters, then turns to her companion "And at least I'm not the one who said 'prophecy' witches like….. Anita? Anita, stop staring a Draal."

The other woman blinks twice and adjusts her glasses, somewhat embarrassed by her own actions (or at least how obvious she was being). Not to mention that the blue troll had locked eyes with her at some point during her observations. Carefully she joins Hannah on the cold floor with a soft sigh.

"It's really him." She murmurs with hesitant awe, stealing yet another glance in Draal's direction "He's just like I imagined him but….. real."

If Hannah wasn't becoming increasingly tired with every passing moment, she would probably be staring right along with her. However, that is not the case and she can't stay focused on one thing for too long. As amusing as the obvious confusion they're causing Draal may be, Hannah has already moved on. Moved on past the presence of a troll, past talking privately with Anita, and past disputing whether or not 'witch' was a valid term.

"Yeah, he's real." Is all she says in response to the other girl's murmuring before turning back to the orb "Now go away. We already look insane. Best not add to it. Draal's probably wondering why we keep talking at the wall."

Now she just wants the king to leave or dissipate, cause he's already on her bad side and his complaints are childish. Who cares what they're called as long as it works? At least she's going along with any of this. Most people would probably be searching for a way home instead of embarking on a quest to aid a cartoon character.

"You could just look at me while you talk." Anita suggests softly.

"Sure. Just as soon as you can keep your eyes off Draal for more than thirty seconds." Hannah retorts…. but is regretting it soon after.

While Arthur may deserve her snappy comments, Anita does not. They are both in the same boat, and the other girl hasn't been all that rude. It's more that her general attitude towards the king puzzles Hannah. Why respect a being that stole the two from their homes, and sent them to a potentially dangerous reality full of trolls, goblins, and changelings? It just….. didn't make sense.

"Sorry, Anita." She says, eyes now focused on the floor "It's just – I'm just…. I'm tired."

She gets no reply, and she can't bring herself to look up. She's just tired and stressed and still wishing for all of this to be a dream. A hand rests itself on her shoulder Hannah wills her eyes to meet the other woman's. She's met with a soft smile and a noticeably absent glowing orb.

Anita sighs, "Me too."

* * *

[Jim's pov]

Climbing on a deadly cliffside with only a rope to stop you from falling to your death is probably not the best time to be questioning your actions. Unfortunately for Jim, that's exactly what's happening.

Throw in dodging fire and he's practically begging to get injured somehow.

On the way down to Trollmarket, Toby and him had talked about the possible enemies, or "new troll helpers" as Toby insisted. Toby seems to think they could help a lot, and if magic armor and TROLLS were real then why not helpful magic witches? It seems a little optimistic though. Jim doesn't trust them and he isn't sure he even will if this changeling info is real. They are up to something, he can feel it.

Unfortunately, the task of telling Blinky about what happened was also brought up, and promptly passed (thrown like a bucket full of angry gnomes) to him as "You're the Trollhunter. It's your duty to protect humans and trolls, right? Well I'm in need of protecting dude".

If only he had had more time to talk to Draal before they had to leave. Maybe he could have helped Jim figure some things out or just what to say to his friends and trainers, Blinky and Aaarrrgghh. As it is, he'd hardly said anything to Draal before leaving him with the two women earlier. Yes, he told Draal their claims to be witches, and when they were out of ear shot he had whispered his plan to prove it and the information about the supposed changeling baby. In the end, this was still a mess though. Are witches dangerous? Would one be able to hurt a troll? Draal hadn't looked alarmed or impressed by the claim so, probably not?

Climbing up the steep wall, his mind is brought back to his current training by a deadly blast of fire shooting out far too close to his head. He's pretty sure that one singed his hair…. How does he end up in situations like this!?

Though the witches are worrying him, Jim promptly skips past mentioning them, having tentatively asked Blinky instead about the possibility of changeling babies. Even from down the cliff he had seen Toby's unimpressed expression as he avoided telling Blinky what happened but, well… Toby isn't the one who has to tell him!

Pulling himself higher up the rock-face Jim grunts as he tries to clarify what he's being told, "They steal babies so they can replace them with changelings?"

It would fit with what the woman said. Though the information is useful, he doesn't like that it goes along with what the possible enemies have said.

Blinky, non the wiser of Jim's inner conflict, stands above with Aarrrgghh and Toby, watching as the Trollhunter continues his training of the day. Jim climbs aided by Aaarrrggghh holding a "safety rope" at the human's insistence.

Looking down at the teen Blinky is only too happy to share his knowledge on the enemy they face!

"Precisely, Master Jim." He calls, "And, in order for a changeling to maintain its appearance in our world, no harm must come to the human child in theirs." Blinky explains, three of his four arms neatly tucked behind his back as he waves one along to his explanation, trying to pacify the worry the humans must feel for their own species' young's fate.

"I assure you, there is no safer place for a baby to be than the bowels of the Darkland's nursery."

Well there's that at least. Yes, the Gum-Gums go about KIDNAPPING BABIES! But they're safe while kidnapped. Standing on a small ledge, seeing the fire shoot round him, Jim scoots to a slightly safer distance from the flames as he replies with a slightly sarcastic, "Well, that's good to know!"

"Whoa! Hold on there." Toby then comments, sitting out the way of any danger along with Aaarrrgghh (the troll he's currently feeding VHS tapes to) while he waits for Jim to just spill the beans on the witches, "Okay, suppose they did take the baby to the Darklands, Isn't that where Gunmar is trying to escape from?" he asks suspiciously.

"The doorway to his realm is sealed for now, but it doesn't exonerate the cracks that inevitably form over time," Blinky explains sagely, "Cracks that allow small things to pass."

"Small, like babies and goblins." Aaarrgghh contributes, barely holding the rope as he continues to enjoy his snack.

"So, if we can find out whose baby was stolen, we'll find a changeling in its place, right?" Jim gasps out, leaping from one ledge to another stone face, his grip precarious as he doges the flames, "And once we have the changeling, we'll have the proof to finally convince Vend- "

Jim suddenly drops, his grip having not been enough. He falls down into the dark depths of the forge.

"Jim!" cries Toby, instantly on his feet and throwing his bag to the side as he watches the rope slip through Aaarrrgghh's hands.

Jumping from the ledge before he can think, he grabs the falling rope, trusting the green troll to catch him.

"Got him!" The large stone pacifist states as he grabs both boys, starting to pull them back to safety.

Bringing Jim up, the boy looks pale from his sudden fright and is panting from the scare, and the work out that is dodging fire and rock-climbing in armor. Hanging like a puppet, he looks to his trainer rather unimpressed (and the issues of witches back home forgotten). "I told you I'd fall."

"You fell because you knew you could." Says Blinky unsympathetically, knowing the teen must learn for his own safety in the future, "What if you're endangered and we aren't there? Next time, we'll climb sans the safety line." He continues walking past the Trollhunter, confident in his training plan. Blinky knows Jim will be able to do it, after all.

"We'll?" Comes the annoyed voice of one hanging teen.

"The only lesson learned here today is that, with this many changelings, Arcadia is far more dangerous than previously thought, for the both of you." Blink says, looking increasingly worried (though he tries to hide it) his stone hands clunking as he clasps them together. "As Jim has Draal now to protect his home, Tobias, you will now have Aaarrrgghh to protect yours."

"Really? For real? We're gonna be roomies? Yeah! High-five, big guy!" Toby and Aarrgghh high five.

And with that, Jim falls once again into the depths of the forge. Now really wasn't the time to be asking about witches.


	8. Chapter 7

Notes: hey! How's everyone doing?

* * *

Chapter 7

[Hannah's pov]

Spending the night on the cold cement floor of a small basement while a troll does little more than stare and huff at you… those are not optimal conditions for a good night's sleep. Hannah isn't sure if she got more than an hour's worth. Hell, she's not sure if Anita slept much either.

Hannah had been awake long enough to hear Jim stumble to the basement door after his trip to Trollmarket, and ask Draal if everything was alright before heading upstairs. Sleep then continued to allude her for a while longer….

Morning was no treat either. They both woke up to the sound of Jim preparing for a day at school (he wasn't loud, but new places tend to keep people more alert). At least he was kind enough to bring a small breakfast down to his "guests" before leaving.

Eating said breakfast with a troll was awkward. Watching Draal shatter a few coal pieces with his teeth once again reminded the girls just how strong he was in comparison to themselves.

ttrroollly spent Jim's school hours listening to Barbara wake up and head to work, and then later convincing Draal to let them upstairs for a very much needed trip to the restroom.

Time dragged on and on until finally the young teen came bursting into the basement babbling about Claire asking him to babysit- "Just like we said she would." Hannah added, fully embracing her claim to be a witch. After an hour or so of chatting with the boy, he seemed to have warmed up to them somewhat. The conversation wasn't as tense as any the night before had been, and Jim looked ready to catch a changeling and was just now ready to accept their false identities (as well as their true intentions).

Hannah's surprised when Jim actually lets them outside the house until the boy explains, "Trust goes both ways." A really corny/cartoony thing to say, but noble still. Little does he know, he already has the girls' full trust and support. "If Claire's brother turns out to be a changeling, I'll meet you guys in the canal later tonight."

Now (after a mutual agreement between the pair to wait and follow Jim when he left for Claire's house) they stood across the street from said edifice, watching Claire and Steve ride away from a clearly distraught trollhunter.

"You ready?" Hannah asks, holding the thankfully non-confiscated gaggletack at her side.

Anita simply nods in reply as they cross the street. Sharing a quick glance with one another, they nod and ring the doorbell. At first they were planning to simply walk in, but this instead would more likely encourage the changeling to keep disguised. It seemed to have worked because a little blond baby could be seen still playing in his chair once Jim opened the door.

Not only do the girls plan to help Jim with his Trollhunting career, they plan to make his personal life a little easier. Starting with sparing the Nuñez household from a certain little green nuisance. As such, before the poor boy could get a word in, they step inside.

"Is this the baby?" Anita asks, walking straight for the changeling with a smile "He looks so sweet, hia little guy."

Step one: surround the changeling.

"Seriously, Jim? Three people to babysit one kid? That's what I call overkill." Hannah adds on to their façade. She keeps her one occupied hand behind her back as she steps behind NotEnrique, giving the teen boy a quick wink.

Step two: secure the changeling.

"Uh… y-yeah, but I've never babysat before." Jim's voice alone could be mistaken for embarrassment or nervousness, but his face is one of pure confusion. Luckily the changeling is too preoccupied with trying to grab Anita's glasses and giggling as the woman slowly begins to pick him up out of the seat. (Hannah makes a mental note to be careful; NotEnrique is great at acting.)

Which leads them to step 3: reveal the changeling.

Hannah moves her hand and the horseshoe she carried out from behind her back. "Not to worry. This little guy is in good hands-"

"Of course, but…" Jim steps between the woman and her target "He's just a baby, you know?" Something in his voice cracked a little, and Hannah was reminded of Jim's reluctance to check certain people in the tv show. His eyes are pleading that it all be a lie. That it isn't true. He wants to remain ignorant… he rather not check if it means another piece of his life could remain normal.

For a moment she's tempted to tell him to leave the room. However, another fake giggle from the changeling pulls her from that train of thought. Anita has shifted the babe to sit more securely in her arms, and Jim has to see the transformation sooner or later anyways. Now is the time to act.

"Sorry, Jim…" she whispers.

Hannah then sidesteps the boy and presses the cold metal to the infant's back.

* * *

[Anita's pov]

After having been trapped somehow in an animated cartoon and guarded by a grumpy (but amazingly cool) troll, Anita is surprised how well everything was going.

She knows she is trapped here…. Away from her home and family. That the one person here who understands what she's going through probably doesn't like her too much after not agreeing with her earlier, and to top it all off they're helping cartoon characters. Where there are probably dangerous cartoon villains as well…

Anita has been trying not to think about it though.

During their impromptu imprisonment in a basement, Anita had kept to herself, though she had studied Draal in fascination for the many hours they were left in there. It's not like she had slept well on the cold cement floor in a strange place with a troll watching her. At least Hannah seemed to have similar problems.

She had been able to hide the Horngazel when Drall left to talk to Jim though… that's a plus.

And now, now she's holding a baby. Anita is finding this very weird. She had babysat and looked after so many babies and toddlers, so she doesn't even pause when they get in the house, instantly going over to the little blond boy in his chair.

Over Anita's cooing she just makes out the sneaky conversation going on with Jim and Hannah, but her focus is on the baby currently holding her finger as she boops his nose.

Other than being a bit curious about the two people behind her, for a kid this age, Anita is very weirded out that this is supposed to be a grown troll (in all but size of course… she thinks that's right).

This was very strange, are all changelings this good at acting?

It only takes a moment for the blond toddler in her arms to turn into a small, green troll in a nappy. The flash of light that came with the change has Anita blinking her eyes to get rid of the spots in her vision, but it doesn't change how very, very weird it is having a baby turn into a baby-looking, adult troll in her arms.

The troll, Notenrique, takes a moment to just blink at Anita, seeming as surprised as her at his sudden change, and her lack of reaction.

That is until Jim mutters an "Oh gawd." behind the troll from where he stands with Hannah… Then all hell breaks loose.

Notenrique suddenly realizes he's been outed to the trollhunter and his gang (as who else could the two woman be? Strickler has so much explaining to do, not warning him about them!) and the small troll makes a break for it.

Luckily, having been used to squirming children, as well as squirming pets (which really a little troll is some kinda mix of) Anita is able to keep some hold of the green changeling. Though that doesn't stop her yelping as his claws try and pull himself away and she calls for help. "Guys! Some help here!"

It only takes a moment for Jim to join the wrestling match, really helping Enrique squirm as much as he's stopping him from escaping. It's only thanks to Hannah's quick thinking and a curtain tie that they get the little monster secure.

Anita and Hannah share a small moment of success at this triumph while the troll complains about being held by his scruff. They actually did it, did something that could make things better here.

Unfortunately, with the absence of chaos Jim seems to have registered what is going on a little differently than what happened in the show as well.

"It is Claire's brother…. They have Claire's brother! What are we going to do?!"

Watching the teen boy pace back and forth in the living room pulling at his hair, neither woman is particularly impressed. Anita wonders if they might hinder his character growth ….

She isn't left to think about the effects of their interaction with the events for long though. The troll against her chest, bound but not gagged (he'd probably eat whatever they used anyway) speaks up.

"Nothin'! That's what." the little changeling smirks at the Trollhunter, ignoring the quiet girls as he gets under the teen's skin, "I'm just a little baby. What you gonna do? Slay me? Good luck explain'n where their kid went with me out the picture." He grins before trying to squirm loose, "Can't keep me tied up forever either! Y'll get done for child abuse!"

Luckily, this line of panic and gloating is brought to an end by Hannah, being swift and purposeful as Anita has come to expect from her.

"We aren't planning on killing you." she tells the troll, stepping up to the little monster, ignoring the teen boy's questioning, "We're not?" as she continues, "In fact we want you to stay right here, as Claire's brother. Right where we can keep an eye on you."

Anita can tell Jim is about to comment again, this time in surprise rather than panic, and quickly gives a look to hush the Trollhunter before he makes himself look worse in front of the currently equally surprised changeling.

"You're… gonna just let me stay here? What's the catch?" Well, the troll seems interested in Hannah, at least he's stopped struggling in Anita's hold. This is going a lot better than she had thought it would!

Grinning slyly to herself, Hannah walks round and lounges across Claire's sofa, she knows its going well too. "No catch, we're just gonna watch incase you get up to anything. As long as this house thinks your the kid, what were you expecting? We don't exactly have the original back do we? And if we need some help from you, maybe we can make a deal."

Feeling that now would be an ok time to release Notenrique, Anita loosens her hold (and the curtain tie) yelping just a little as the troll gets loose and promptly climbs up her head to lean over and squint at Hannah, "Why should I help you? I got the power here."

"Soooo.." Anita finally adds in, "You don't want nice sweaty, few-day-old socks?"

"Wait wait, you didn't mention that!"

"If you get down and behave, you can have them. Please get off." The poor girl squeaks at the changeling on her head, the argumentative troll's claws being so close to her face are not reassuring at all.


End file.
